Last week alone, shows announced at the new Sands Bethlehem Event Center at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem included The Eagles front man Glenn Frey, top jazz singer Diana Krall and Canadian fun rockers Barenaked Ladies.

Gerald R. Deifer Jr.

Those announcements followed word that the arena will open May 16 with alt-rockers Incubus, then, in the first week, also have pop-punk band blink-182, The Beach Boys 50th anniversary reunion and country superstar Alan Jackson. In August, “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno will perform.

In a recent telephone interview, Gerald R. Deifer Jr., a founder of Vision Entertainment Group, which will own and operate the events center, talked about the venue’s growing lineup, and what the future holds.

The shows booked so far are bigger than a 3,500-standing, 2,550-seated venue gets. Paired with booking/ticket/promotion giant Live Nation, the event center is promising far more of the same. In all, nearly 20 events, including a June 1 boxing match that will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network, have been announced.

Here is a transcript of the call:

LEHIGH VALLEY MUSIC: Last week continued a pretty aggressive schedule of announcements for the center, and a high level of performer being offered there.

DEIFER: “The aggressive schedule goes along with what our entire plan is, and the high level of talent we’re providing is just what the Valley needed. I think that being that we’re pretty far away from Philadelphia and New York City, a lot of the consumers and a lot of the demographic here, they’re usually traveling to see their favorite artists. And part of our model was to provide high-class entertainment to those individuals.”

And you’re spoken before about the intention to bring a wide variety of entertainment: Comedians, now you’ve covered musical genres including jazz, country, rock, alternative music.

“This venue is not just for one type of entertainment. What we did was when we designed this venue, it was designed for any aspect of entertainment. So not just country and contemporary music or jazz music. I mean, we’re talking about providing sporting events. Boxing. We announced June 1 we have the first nationally televised event at the Sands Casino to be broadcast to 90 million homes. We also have [coming] in the lineup a lot of electronic dance music, which is on the top of the charts right now of the musical trends and the followings of what’s going on with the music business in general. So I think his venue is offering a wide variety, but still staying true to the trends and the ever-evolving industry.”

Clearly you’ve made a splash: You’ve got acts such as Jay Leno and blink-182, The Beach Boys 50th anniversary reunion. Is your expectation to continue to be able to have acts at that level?

“Oh, it will definitely continue. Our goal is to provide high-level entertainment. And what happens with venues in particular, with this venue being in a middle-size market, it was similar to the House of Blues model. When you start with start with a smaller-capacity venue that you don’t see these large artists play, the word spreads like wildfire. So when you get a Jay Leno, when he goes back to L.A. and Hollywood, he’s going to talk about the atmosphere and the euphoria around the Sands, and the sound, the lights. It goes so far with other artists. So when you say I’m bringing in high level, you haven’t seen yet what will come to this venue. Because they will come.”

And you expect that you’ll have an audience to support acts like that continually?

“I think that the market supports it for sure. I think that there’s enough people. And we’re not segregated to the Lehigh Valley region. Of course, we want people in the Lehigh Valley region to be avid concert-goers, but our reach is similar to the Sands [Casino] demographic – where we pull from surrounding regions: Bucks County, Monroe, all the way to New York City and New Jersey. We adapted to the Sands Casino model, and we plan to offer every type of talent. I mean, we’re looking at bringing in Asian matinees to support some of the clientele that’s at the casino, and some of their demographics. We’re looking at bringing in theatrical plays – Broadway shows such as “Mama Mia” and “Cats.” Those are just some of the things that are on my plate right now.”

And you’ve talked about the impact, as far as entertainment dollars, this is going to have on the area. And you’re goal is to build the entire area as an entertainment destination.

“Right. I think our model is to play a part in the overall build of the site. So that includes the SteelStacks facility, that includes Musikfest, that includes all the festivals that go year-round with ArtsQuest. And I think that what you’re providing here is something that you see at The Power Plant in Baltimore. We’re creating a Mecca of entertainment – not only for the people of the Lehigh Valley, but an establishment that people from all over the world can travel to, and not have a single night without something to do. There’s always going to be something going on. And I think as this site evolves, we are one of the anchors of the site, obviously, and we’re going to be driving at least a half-million people a year through that site. And they’re not current visitors – these are unique visitors that come to a concert to see their favorite artist. These people are coming because they’re fans. And it’s the experience that you get when you’re on that whole site. So it’s not just ‘Let’s focus on the Sands Bethlehem Event Center.’ Let’s focus on all the amenities that the site has to offer. Including the city of Bethlehem. With blink-182, we have people coming from Maine and Chicago – people who have never been here. So the idea is to develop this whole site as an entertainment Mecca.”

How much did the connection with Live Nation add to your ability to do what you’re doing?

“Live Nation is a very crucial part. They are, obviously, the conglomerate when it comes to entertainment booking. They have routed shows with their facilities at the Tower [Theatre in Upper Darby], The Borgata [in Atlantic City] and Camden, N.J. So it was just a good fit. It fit in their model. They don’t really have a facility in this region that they were able to offer their talent. So it plays very well.

“What Vision Entertainment did was we collectively developed somewhat of a business model that’s new. And when you see the Vision Bar and the amenities that Vision Bar offers – the amount of time you’ll be able to go to a concert before and after, and all in one place. Have all kinds of variety of stuff that you’re going to be able to do: From high-class restaurants to high-class bars, high-class nightlife. I mean, everything that you can think of high-end, you will have on this site.

“I think the model that we’re building, Live Nation is a key component of that. But Vision Entertainment Group is the pioneer of this new model. And I think this is something we can replicate in other locations in the future.”

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JOHN J. MOSER has been around long enough to have seen the original Ramones in a small club in New Jersey, U2 from the fourth row of a theater and Bob Dylan's born-again tours. But he also has the number for All-American Rejects' Nick Wheeler on his cell phone, wrote the first story ever done on Jack's Mannequin and hung out in Wiz Khalifa's hotel room.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

JODI DUCKETT: As The Morning Call's assistant features editor responsible for entertainment, she spends a lot of time surveying the music landscape and sizing up the Valley's festivals and club scene. She's no expert, but enjoys it all — especially artists who resonated in her younger years, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Tracy Chapman, Santana and Joni Mitchell.

KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS enjoys all types of music, from roots rock and folk to classical and opera. Music has been a constant backdrop to her life since she first sat on the steps listening to her mother’s Broadway LPs when she was 2. Since becoming a mother herself, she has become well-versed on the growing genre of kindie rock and, with her son in tow, can boast she has seen a majority of the current kid’s performers from Dan Zanes to They Might Be Giants.

STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS: A Jersey native raised in Northeast PA, she was reared in a house littered with 8-tracks, 45s and cassette tapes of The Beatles, Elvis, Meatloaf and Billy Joel. She also grew up on the sounds of Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw and can be found traversing the countryside in search of the sounds of a steel guitar. A fan of today's 'new country,' she digs mainstream/country-pop crossovers like Lady Antebellum and Sugarland and other artists that illustrate the genre's diversity.